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After being stung she was unconscious for half an hour. She suffered burn-like lashes to her legs and was put into an induced coma when she reached hospital. But after six weeks of treatment, she was able to go home.

Jamie Seymour, Zoology and tropical ecology associate professor at James Cook University, said her recovery after such an extensive sting was unheard of.

"I don't know of anybody in the entire literature we've studied who has had such an extensive sting and has survived," he said.

"When I first saw the pictures of the injuries I just went, 'you know to be honest, this kid should not be alive'. I mean they are horrific.

"Usually when you see people who have been stung by box jellyfish with that number of the tentacle contacts on their body, it's in a morgue."

Mr Seymour said that box jellyfish victims usually die within three minutes of being stung. His team now intend to study Rachael's survival in the hope that it will give them clues as to how they can help other patients.

"We're all interested a) to see how long it takes her to get better and b) whether there's going to be any long term effects," he said.

"When you have a once in a lifetime case like this, from our point of view it's really useful information that you very seldom if ever get your hands on."

Rachael's father, Geoff Shardlow, said his daughter had suffered short-term memory loss and scarring on her legs, but was otherwise in good health.

"We've noticed a small amount of short-term memory loss, like riding a pushbike to school and forgetting she's taken a pushbike," he said.

"The greatest fear was actual brain damage [but] her cognitive skills and memory tests were all fine."

The most recent death from a box jellyfish sting in Queensland was in 2006.

Ebeny Keating, life-saving services coordinator from Surf Life Saving Australia, said it was extremely unusual for someone to be stung by a jellyfish so far from the ocean and it was "very, very lucky" that Rachael had survived.

Scores of beaches in Queensland and the Northern Territory are closed each year due to box jellyfish, which are common in Australia's northern waters during the wet season from October to April.

Some beaches are netted to prevent stings, but snorkellers on the Great Barrier Reef are also advised to wear protective full-body stinger suits.